Rule Britannia by Daphne Du Maurier

Seven of us sat down for what turned out to be an amiable chat over a glass (or two) and a book. A somewhat crazy book!

The story is based around the experience of a wonderfully eclectic (and very likeable) Cornish household at the time of an attempted political, economic and military alliance between Britain and America. The household consists of Mad Grandmother, Foster Mother and a famous, in her time, actress; Emma, Mad's long suffering granddaughter; six fostered/adopted boys of all ages; Dottie the elderly housekeeper (once dresser for Mad) and Pa. Emma's father/Mad's son who drops in from his home in London where he is a cog in the alliance wheel.

The neighbours are a local farming family and a Welsh recluse who lives in a shack in the woods. Other significant acquaintances include the local GP and a pub landlord.

The events that unfold in the story draw this tiny community into situations that beggar belief. Seemingly they will stop at nothing to protect their environment and to protest at the intrusions made to their lives.

Our group wholeheartedly agree that this book is 'NOT what we had expected from a Daphne Du Maurier!'

It's a great concept but it's not a 'good' book though it is very readable. The concept is a good one, though not particularly well executed. It is like a children's adventure book, a gruesome Enid Blyton full of 'cartoon like' characters. We were left wondering what possessed this wonderful writer to write this particular book. We decided that perhaps she saw it as her opportunity to prove she is no 'Jane Austen'!

It was intimated in some reviews that this is a semi-autobiographical story and as a group we felt that Mad could indeed have been Daphne's personal pen-picture. However, I have since found that the book is dedicated to Gladys Cooper, a leading lady of Gerald Du Maurier, Daphne's actor father and Gladys is the basis of the main character in the book: Mad.

So, here is 'Mad' Gladys:

And, it all takes place in (fictional?) Poldrea, Cornwall. We all tried to place Poldrea and decided it was somewhere between Falmouth and Plymouth! However, there is a small place just outside Par named Tywardreath with a street named Poldrea and, though the street comprises social housing the location fits Daphne's description very well indeed.

This is a book that raises many questions and fails to answer, or challenge, any of them.

Would we recommend it - yes, though not for its literary qualities!

Our next book is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and we will meet to discuss our reading experiences at The Hundred on Thursday 26th November 8pm when our pub Dominoes team will be playing AWAY to the New Zealand!